Columnist Jeff German: Tabish is looking for public’s aid

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.

Just when you think nothing can surprise you in the Ted Binion murder case, you wind up being surprised.

With all of the money being thrown around by the defense, it's mindboggling to think that one of the defendants, Rick Tabish, wants the public to pick up a sizeable part of his legal tab.

The subject actually will be argued by lawyers at a hearing before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure on Friday.

Tabish, the imprisoned son of a wealthy Montana businessman, contends that he is indigent and entitled to "reasonable and necessary defense services at public expense." He wants to spend the taxpayer dollars on expert witnesses, who don't come cheap, for his October retrial.

This is the same Tabish who has a stable of four lawyers preparing his case, including one of the best known criminal defense minds in the country, San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra.

Prosecutors have told Bonaventure they find Tabish's request "highly offensive," and they plan to vigorously fight it in court on Friday.

I wonder if they'll refresh the judge's memory about the time Tabish was in Montana after Binion's September 1998 death peddling 100 pounds of silver coins prosecutors said were stolen from the casino man. The coins wound up in the hands of Tabish's former brother-in-law, who turned them over to police.

The lion's share of the valuables stolen from Binion's Las Vegas home, including a rare collection of antique coins and currency, is still missing.

Tabish and his co-defendant and former lover, Sandy Murphy, are charged with stealing the items after killing Binion. Just days after Binion died, Murphy showed up at a lawyer's office with bags full of silver coins, but later took them back.

Murphy, however, isn't claiming to be poor like Tabish. She has done little to hide her life of luxury since being released on $300,000 bail in December with the help of a wealthy benefactor. Her side of the defense also has been going hog-wild in the spending department.

So much money has been available that some defense team associates have come under investigation for tampering with a witness. Payments allegedly were made to key prosecution witness Steve Kurt Gratzer to influence his testimony at the upcoming retrial.

These kinds of allegations usually surface when the defense has too much cash to blow.

Maybe Tabish should ask Murphy to contribute to his legal fund instead of the taxpayers.

Not everyone associated with Murphy's defense has made a financial killing.

Attorney Herb Sachs says his 3 1/2-year tenure on the defense team was marred by "interference" from within, which is a claim well-known Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin made last month when he departed as Murphy's lead counsel.

But unlike the well-paid DeGuerin, Sachs says his misery was compounded by being stiffed to the tune of $225,000 in legal fees.

Sachs will ask Bonaventure on Friday to formally let him withdraw from the case.

Then he intends to sue for his money.